Wonders never cec

Yesterday was an odd one. I've decided to try forgoing the gym on Mondays, since it's just too stressful to try to get up early on Monday mornings. On top of the usual Monday stress, we got a strange announcement regarding work yesterday. More on that later.

So, not having to go to the gym meant only having to have one breakfast - SWB and Turkey sausage, of course. Someone in the office did the right thing and brought apples in to share. It seems like a small thing, but I appreciate someone bringing in something healthy, instead of stupid cookies and brownies and what not.

The apple helped me to resist chips at Austin Grill, where we went for lunch to discuss / commiserate over our job situations. I went Bevo Salad, dressing on the side, natch. In retrospect, there was probably too much cheese and what not, but it could have been worse.

For a snack, I measured out a cup of Kashi Go Lean! Crunch Honey Almond Flax. That stuff is super sweet and I knew better, but it's good. :-)

I was actually invited out yesterday to a beer garden by a friend I'd missed very much, so I had to go. That meant no Heroes for me, this week, but the sacrifice was well worth it. Wonderland Bar & Grill, aka Knob Hill's patio provided a great backdrop for conversation. Two more coworkers even randomly surprised up and stopped by! In addition to the chicken quesedilla (which was big and greasy - yum), I had three beers, which seemed large at the time, and even larger this morning when I had a pretty bad headache. Not to worry, nothing that ibuprofen couldn't fix.

I got my arse on up this morning, had the usual breakfast, and worked out. Today I did some weights and intervals on the treadmill and am of course wo' out. Today's protein powder was tdf. Off to a good start. Let's keep it up.

Promises, Promises

Movie theatre popcorn is the devil.

After hearing reviews like, "Viggo Mortensen burns a whole in the screen," I had to go see Eastern Promises. It was by no means a popcorn movie, but did that stop me? No. T and I got the usual - the #2 with large popcorn and two large drinks and we (or should I say I) ate it too. And yes, there was butter--and salt. So here was the cute part: ten minutes into the movie, when the popcorn was ALREADY half gone (yes a large), I decided it was gross b/c the butter and salt had run out. Now instead of putting the bag down and taking that as a hint, my dumb ass got up, left the theater and got some MORE butter. Awesome.

The movie itself was great. I thought the story was compelling and everyone played their parts well. As I mentioned to T on the way out of the theater, I thought Howard Shore's kind of broad scoring fit well with a big city like London, more so than it did in A History of Violence. That one was set in a small town and I kept thinking that the music was trying too hard, and overpowering the movie. I think he's calmed it down a bit since LOTR. Anyway, burn a whole in the screen? Maybe not. But Viggo was very good. He really went for it. I even enjoy Naomi Watts, whose acting abilities were totally lost on me in King Kong, where she literally screamed for an entire movie.

So anywho, after the movie, I found myself at Cactus Cantina. I'll spare you the details, but let's just say, there was a cup of queso and an order of steak fajitas involved. And of course, more chips. I am done even saying I'm done with those things. They win. Tortilla chips are my masters.

Thankfully, today was much better - I started off with some cereal b/c I was going to church (I don't know why). At church I of course had to have two oreos with my coffee - because they were Golden Oreos and they make my life.

I met David and his friend for lunch at Matchbox and was very proud of myself for getting a small salad with grilled salmon on it. No bread, no appetizers, or nothin. Success.

that left me room for a small caramel gelato - I do not go to the National Gallery without it. that reminds me I think I may have too many food associations. I too often find myself saying, " I shouldn't eat this, but I don't go to x place without getting y." That is not a good reason, but it totally lets you justify what you're doing. I'm going to have to find a way to break that. But first, examples:

Lauriol Plaza - chips and queso
Annie's Steak House - home fries
National Galllery - gelato
Matchbox - miniburgers (except today)

So, yeah. I'm gonna try to break those associations. I think if I go somewhere three times and don't get whatever the associated food is, I may be able to break the habit. We'll see.

So I had the last of my squash soup a couple of hours ago. It was good, but I am tired of it now. Maybe next fall. In my kitchen today was a coupon for a large pizza (two toppings) for $9.99 and I want to order it. The thought of it has consumed me since I saw it. In fact I am only distracting myself by flogging. I am going to go in the kitchen and see if I can't make myself a healthy alternative. Something with less carbs and bad fats. Wish me luck!

Emergency?

Mr. Scale was not kind to me today. I have apparently put on 6-7lbs of some sort over the last 2 months. Based on the ratio of my strength training and cardio workouts, I'd guess that some portion of that is probably muscle. But by NO means is all of it. I crossed my self-imposed no-cross zone today so it's time to switch things up.

This morning when i was going over what I ate yesterday in my mind (in an act of needless self-justification) I completely skipped over all the junk I ate between meals and snacks, including not one but two pieces of banana bread, a chocolate bar and a spoonful of peanut butter. I see this happening 30-40 calories at a time.

It is in that light that I should mention the bowl of oatmeal (carefully measured, skim milk, two teaspoons of peanut butter, one serving of raisins) I had for breakfast. After lifting (which I am going to scale back on), I had my usual chocolate protein powder and am now having my coffee with one mini-moo. Everything else will find its way here because it has to.